Wearing Her Colors
by ghostgirl19
Summary: "I saw in a TV show once that had fencers wearing a ribbon a girl gave to them for luck and-and to show she had confidence in him." She bit her lower lip; it was now or never. "Would…would you wear mine?" No Miraculous AU, Adrinette


**I swear, I'm trying to update my stories, but it's kinda hard for me to think of ideas for them :( I've been working on a blood red roses update though, so hopefully I can finish it soon. I know what I want to happen in it, so that's a start :) I'll have some more free time in the coming week, since I've had schoolwork, finals, and now starting a summer job.**

 **I've had this idea in the works for awhile, and tonight I was on a writing roll and managed to finish it :) It's an AU, so I'll explain:**

 **-Rival schools, Adrien and Nino attend Collège Lafayette (that may or may not have been inspired by Hamilton) but Marinette and the others still attend** **Collège Françoise Dupont**

 **-Nino fences in this, Adrien met him at school and they became instant friends. Adrien soon taught Nino how to fence and eventually convinced him to join the team**

 **-Marinette likes someone from her own school...**

 **I think that's all you need to know for now, I hope you like it!**

* * *

Marinette had no idea why she was here, at one of her school's fencing matches.

Oh wait, yes she did.

It had something to do with Alya dragging her here, specifically to see Enzo LeBeau, Marinette's crush who happened to be the fencing team Captain, which also meant that he was the most skilled fencer on the team. So why wouldn't Alya make her come to the biggest match of the season, against Collège Lafayette, their rival school, where Enzo could proudly show off while beating the competition.

Marinette did want to see her crush compete, she always wanted to see him fence in person and not have to rely on pictures and videos from Alya, but she was paranoid that Enzo would see her and think she was a creep, or a stalker, or ask her to leave so he wouldn't have to see her. Alya always insisted that would never happen, since Enzo always talked to her and seemed to like her (maybe even romantically?), but Marinette could never be too sure.

She currently sat on the metal bench, watching all the fencers spar with each other before the match would begin. She tried to pick out Enzo, but it was impossible with all of them wearing those face masks.

Well, she had a rough idea on which one Enzo was: the one fencer who repeatedly kept looking in her direction before using his sabre to thrust at his temporary opponent.

"I'm not the only one who noticed that he keeps looking at you," Alya murmured slyly into her ear. "Maybe after he beats Adrien Agreste you can take him out for some victory ice cream."

Marinette squeaked, her cheeks delving into a rosy color as she fought to look towards anything else but the fencer-Enzo-still occasionally glancing in her direction.

Adrien Agreste, when he wasn't modeling, was the Captain of his own school's fencing team, and some say that he was the best fencer in the entire city. Rumor had it that he began to study the art at five years old, being taught by the most skilled fencers in the country. He was the son of Gabriel Agreste, Marinette's fashion idol, so he was perfectly able to afford the undoubtedly expensive lessons.

Despite that, Marinette had faith that her crush would defeat Adrien. As for taking him out for victory ice cream, well, that was another story…

She noticed Enzo speaking with his teammate, the two having their heads bent close to each other so no one else could listen in on their conversation. Whatever it was, it was brief, as Enzo distanced himself from the other fencer and began walking towards the bleachers…towards _her_.

"He's coming over here!" she whisper-shrieked to Alya, almost full-on panicking as he drew closer. "What do I do?!"

"Try not to jump his bones and talk to him," she supplied easily, her eyes sporting a mischievous twinkle.

"Alya," she growled, sneaking another look out of the corner of her eye to see that he was almost there.

"Relax, just talk to him as you normally do, but with less stuttering," she advised cheekily before promptly turning away and moving down the bench to give the lovebirds some privacy.

Marinette grunted, resolved with her friend's lack of help, and took to taking deep breaths that did next to nothing to calm her nerves. Enzo was nearly upon her, and walked to the side of the bleachers so he could stand right next to her since she was sitting on the end.

"H-Hi, Enzo," she greeted shyly, raising her hand for a weak wave.

Enzo tilted his head, as though confused. It lasted only for a moment, for in no time he raised his own hand and gave her a much stronger wave.

"G-Good luck today," Marinette continued, not wanting an awkward silence to ruin these precious moments with him. "I heard you're going up against Adrien Agreste, I think you can beat him though."

She thought she heard what sounded like a muffled snort, but it could've easily been her imagination.

He nodded, before straightening his posture and shifting into a fencing stance, then thrusting his sabre forward as though he was stabbing an invisible opponent (maybe Adrien). He then stood with his weapon at his side, puffing out his chest with pride.

Marinette let loose a small peal of laughter, never seeing Enzo acting so playfully boastful before. Enzo in turn straightened even more, apparently pleased he could get that reaction out of her.

He took to leaning his elbows on the edge of the floor of the bleachers, resting his chin atop his arms and peering up at her, not taking off the mask as he did so. He didn't say a word, seeming quite content to just gaze at her with what she hoped was a lovesick grin equal to the one she was currently trying to suppress.

She opened her mouth, ready to maybe throw caution to the wind and ask him if he would like to get ice cream after the match (win or lose) when she heard the shrill sound of a whistle blowing. Enzo immediately drew back and sharply turned his head in the sound's direction, as did Marinette, and saw the referee barking orders for the students to meet with their coaches and get ready.

Enzo looked back to Marinette, nodded in farewell, and was about to leave when he heard Marinette's call for him to wait.

She was glad he heeded it, taking a couple steps closer to her to see what she wanted.

With a blush, she untied a red ribbon on one of her pigtails and held it out to him in offering.

"I-" She paused to look away, her shyness overtaking her again. "I saw in a TV show once that had fencers wearing a ribbon a girl gave to them for luck and-and to show she had confidence in him." She bit her lower lip; it was now or never. "Would…would you wear mine?"

He stood, utterly still as he undoubtedly stared at her through the grey netting of the white protection mask. The longer he didn't say anything, the more Marinette got worried and started to mentally panic.

 _Dammit, why did I say that? It's so stupid, now that I think about it! Why would he want to wear a ribbon, and mine, at that? I should've just kept my big, stupid mouth shut…_

However, Enzo surprised her by snapping out of it and wordlessly turning so he bared his right arm to her, a silent invitation for her to tie the ribbon to his bicep. Marinette reined in the happy squeal she wanted so badly to release and managed to tie the ribbon in a set of double knots so it wouldn't fall off. After she pulled the ends once more to make sure it was tight enough without it being overly tight, he turned and caught both of her hands in his.

A blush lit her cheeks as he brought up his mask just enough so he could give her hands a flurry of kisses each, before he stepped back and bowed lowly, and jogged back towards his teammates.

Marinette took her eyes off him only to see Alya sitting down beside her again, wearing a devilish smirk. She bit back her own smile as her best friend nudged her with her elbow.

"I saw what you did there, Marinette," Alya teased, shooting her a wink. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"Me either," she admitted in a breathless sigh. "I can't believe he's actually wearing my ribbon! And he kissed my hands, too!"

She held up them up and observed them as though they were priceless. In her mind, they were right in that moment.

"I'm never washing these hands again!"

Alya rolled her eyes with an amused grin, shaking her head as she did so. She would never tire of Marinette's antics.

She looked toward the center of the playing area in front of them, perking up when she saw a fencer with a red ribbon tied around his left bicep, standing in a ready position with his opponent across from him. The girls were so busy gushing over Marinette's victory that they completely missed the referee announcing the names of the fencers.

But the ribbon was enough of a giveaway as to who he was.

"There he is!" Alya pointed out, grabbing her friend's chin to get her attention to the match.

Marinette's features broke out into an excited smile as she eagerly watched her crush go against who had to be Adrien Agreste.

…

Adrien walked back to his coach with what was probably the biggest, goofiest smile he ever displayed. Good thing it was covered by the mask he wore, or else he would never hear the end of his teammates' teasing.

"Agreste, where were you just now?" Mr. D'Argencourt snapped, hands on his hips as he stared him down with a scolding expression that demanded a good excuse.

Adrien lifted his mask to answer, but his best friend Nino beat him to it.

"He was flirting with a _girl_ ," he exaggerated with a classic eyebrow-waggle. Adrien shot him an unimpressed look.

He'd get back at him for that later, he decided as the other fencers starting ooh'ing and making obnoxious kissing noises.

Mr. D'Argencourt ignored them all as he tilted his head, curiously regarding the red ribbon tied snugly around his pupil's arm.

"Hm, I haven't seen that done in a long time," he murmured pensively, before flashing Adrien a grin. "You better prove that you're worthy of wearing that woman's colors today, Adrien."

He nodded, his eyes set with resolve as he gripped his sabre and squared his shoulders.

She may have given him her ribbon because she thought he was Enzo LeBeau. Regardless, he would be a champion who would proudly bear her colors and prove that her decision wasn't a mistake. Her colors won't be worn by anyone less than a winner.

After a pep talk from Mr. D'Argencourt, Adrien had to go shake hands with the other team's captain, who happened to be Enzo. He had to face him several times now, since starting collège, so he was fairly familiar with his fighting tactics. However, now it seemed that he was about to engage in a duel of a different sort, specifically for that cute girl's heart. He wished he knew her name.

Maybe if he won, he would be able to get it, and possibly her phone number too, despite inadvertently tricking her of his identity.

Enzo walked up to him with a confident gait, reaching out and gripping Adrien's hand in a firm handshake. Adrien furrowed his brows, not appreciating the cockiness or the impolite roughness of how he shook his hand.

"Nice accessory there, Agreste," Enzo sneered, letting his hand rest on the hilt of his sabre as he eyed the ribbon on his opponent's bicep. "Is this a new look you're modeling?"

"Actually no," Adrien replied nonchalantly, not letting Enzo get to him. "It was given to me by the most beautiful woman in the room, who I'm fairly certain goes to your school. Hair as dark as night, eyes as blue as endless summer flowers, oh and she has these cute little freckles running across her nose-"

"Marinette?!" he exclaimed, satisfyingly shocked at the realization. Sure enough, his head whipped around towards the girl Adrien was with earlier. A smile instinctively danced across his lips before he returned his attention to Enzo, who looked less than happy.

But at least he had her name now. Marinette…it was a lovely name, just rolled off the tongue.

"Why would she give you her ribbon?" Enzo questioned, crossing his arms together.

Well, he wasn't about to admit the real reason.

"Because she believes that I'll win," he answered, a smug grin overtaking his features. It wasn't a total lie, Marinette did believe the man she gave her ribbon to would win.

"What?!" Enzo growled, now looking positively furious. "Are you serious?!" He scoffed. "I'm not showing you any mercy, Agreste."

Adrien leaned in infuriatingly close, still wearing the same, complacent smirk.

"Wouldn't count on it."

…

Even with Enzo's temper fueling him, Adrien still wound up winning the match, as per usual with all his games. However, while Adrien would usual battle it out with efficiency and no fooling around, he let some of his cocky side show, but not enough to make himself look like a _total_ jerk.

For example, Adrien hardly ever beat, or tapped on an opponent's blade, unless the match was going too slowly. This time, Adrien did it every so often, well aware (and enjoying) of the increasing state of Enzo's temper. It was this budding fury that was his downfall, and Enzo was quick to march over to where Marinette was sitting.

Marinette, meanwhile, felt ready to die of embarrassment. She got so excited when she saw the fencer bearing her ribbon won, thinking it was of course Enzo, but almost died from shock when her champion was revealed to be Adrien Agreste, instead.

She gave her ribbon to the wrong boy.

Alya naturally supported her friend during the difficult discovery, reminding her that it was just a mistake, and that it wasn't that big of a deal, and Enzo would understand.

It soon became apparent that Enzo did not, in fact, understand.

"What the _fuck_ , Marinette?!" Enzo hissed, his brown eyes narrowed into enraged slits. His sabre was long forgotten, tossed aside in his anger before stalking off to Marinette. "Why the hell would you give your ribbon to some bastard from a _different school_?! And not just any school, but our main rivals! Oh and you couldn't stop there, could you? No, you just went and put your confidence in Adrien fucking Agreste, the one guy I had to beat today! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Ever since Alya came to her school, Marinette had been getting better at maintaining her confidence and not backing down when something wasn't right. However, with her crush standing there in front of her, verbally lashing out such hate at her like this while trembling in rage…well, it was more than enough to keep her silent and have her eyes brim with unshed tears.

He was right, after all. She deserved it after her stupid mistake.

"Hey!" Alya intervened angrily, swift in coming to her best friend's defense. She wrapped a protective arm around Marinette's shoulders and fixed Enzo with a glare that would have sent most people running for the hills. "Just because she put her ribbon on some other guy doesn't give you the right to act like an asshole. You're just jealous that she had confidence in a winner instead of you."

His face colored with barely suppressed anger, his mouth opened to say something else, but Alya demanded he leave them alone or she would personally see to it that he wouldn't be physically capable of participating in another fencing match for the rest of his life.

"Don't listen to him, girl," Alya ordered, once Enzo walked away, in a comforting but commanding tone, taking Marinette by both of her shoulders so she would have to look at her and see how her eyes offered no argument. "He's just an asshole who only cares about a sport, a sport he can't even win in. He doesn't deserve your tears."

Marinette sniffled, considering her words. It hurt, extremely so, that her crush just reprimanded her so harshly for just a small error. Then again, it gave her the opportunity to see what his character was really like deep down inside. If they ever got into a relationship, how would he react if she made a bigger mistake than this one? Would he draw the line at screaming at her? Or would he possibly go further?

It was a gamble she didn't want to make.

Marinette swiped her hand on her cheeks to wipe away the few tears that managed to escape. With a new, hardened gaze, her eyes swept from Enzo, who still looked less than happy judging by how he was snapping at his teammates, to Adrien Agreste, who was glaring daggers into Enzo's back and obviously restraining himself from making a confrontation that would surely look bad if it got out in public and maybe disqualify him from a match in the future.

With a firm nod, she got up from the bleachers and made her way to a nearby door. Alya asked her where she was going, but she only shook her head in response, letting the door close behind her with a soft click.

…

Adrien wanted to strangle Enzo, and maybe kick him in the throat for good measure. He was a Yondan black belt in karate, so he was more than capable of doing so. However, starting a fight would most definitely look bad for his father's company if word got out to the public, thus he was resigned to stand back and control his temper.

He wasn't a violent person, far from it. He tried to avoid confrontation whenever he could. But when he saw the heartbroken expression on Marinette's face, the way the light in her eyes faded and how her lower lip trembled…well, it was enough to get him grinding his teeth, at the very least.

He felt ten times worse when she suddenly got up and went out the door closest to her. She was probably going to cry where she could be alone. His match was over, maybe he could go comfort her? Apologize for tricking her in the first place? After all, if he never tricked her or even approach her, none of this would've happened.

He eyed the red ribbon still tied around his arm with a frown. He should return it. He-

"Uh, A-Adrien?"

He turned at the familiar voice, his eyes widening as he registered that it was Marinette standing behind him, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here, by the way she fiddled her fingers together and didn't meet his gaze.

Adrien walked closer to her, increasing the distance between me and his teammates so they could talk next to the bleachers, where they could be semi-alone.

His bit his lower lip, heat flooding his cheeks in shame as he scratched the back of his neck with his hand.

"Hey," he began, this time not able to look at her. Instead, he stared at the ground. "I'm sorry about tricking you like that. I should've told you who I was instead of pretending to be Enzo."

She nodded, raising her head to see him, and a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he found that some of the light had returned to her ocean-like eyes.

"It's okay, I'm actually kind of glad you did that."

Adrien blinked, momentarily stunned.

Marinette giggled when she saw how bewildered he looked. It was stark contrast to the warm, sometimes enticing smiles and grins she would see on his posters.

"Yes, I'm glad. It gave me the chance to see who Enzo really was. I'm sorry that I ever liked that guy."

Adrien tried his best to mask his disappointment.

"You, uh, really liked him, huh?"

Marinette arched a coy eyebrow, a smirk pulling at her lips.

"Are you disappointed?"

Once again, Adrien was proven stunned. Was she teasing him? Flirting with him?

Hm. In that case…

A grin of his own danced across his features.

"Not really, since you said you _liked_ him, which is in the past tense."

Her smirk broadened into a wide smile, her eyes sparkling with mirth. Adrien was glad to see the change.

"Are you insinuating something, Monsieur Model?" she purred with lidded eyes, and Adrien felt the color rising to his cheeks and the air leave his lungs. He was foolish to have thought that she was flirting before, because _this_ was obviously the real deal, and he didn't know if he could handle it.

Marinette didn't know where the sudden boldness came from, but she liked it a lot better compared to her shy stutters and blushes. Shit, she was making _Adrien Agreste_ blush.

She was going to try to hold onto this courage for as long as she possibly could.

"I don't have a medal or a trophy," she trailed off, untying her other hair ribbon as she did so. "But I hope you'll accept this as an award for your match, anyway."

Adrien held his breath as she tied the ribbon below the first one, securing it with the same double-knot procedure as its predecessor.

The pair gazed into the other's eyes, and in that moment, somehow, Adrien found the next few words tumbling out of his mouth in a smooth, slightly awed whisper.

"Would you like to get ice cream after the match?"

Marinette stepped back with a frown, and Adrien knew he had been rejected.

"I'm not completely over my feelings for Enzo, despite him yelling and humiliating me. Like, what I mean to say is, I _am_ , but it's going to take some time to fully heal, you know?"

Adrien nodded. He could understand that.

"But," she continued, peering up at him with a hopeful twinkle in her eyes. "I wouldn't be opposed to getting ice cream with you…and, if you want, maybe…possibly starting something down the road from now? I mean, I'd be open to it, and I don't want you to think you're a rebound or anything, because you're not, and-"

Adrien cut her rambling off with a soothing hand on her shoulder, a smile already on his lips.

"How about we just focus on ice cream for now, and see how we feel later on?"

Marinette nodded, a sigh of relief slipping past her mouth.

"Alright."

* * *

 **The TV show Marinette mentioned was NBC's Dracula, which ran for one season a few years ago, and it's where I got the idea from. The one episode "A Whiff of Sulfur" had a fencing match going on and showed fencers wearing women's ribbons. I tried researching this, but I got absolutely nothing :/ So I drew most of my knowledge from the scene in the show.**


End file.
